Testers Needed

[PcS]

Baudrate.... heh heh !!!!

[sthone]

to add something to my previous statement....i do feel like a bit of a dumb ass. i have been using s3d for i think 3 years now and i just realized the i could hit the jog controls for +-z at .01 on the fly to adjust that first layer while the printer is printing. for some reason i never tried it because it just wasnt part of my workflow i guess and i just figured while printing s3d would lock those out.....guess not. well atleast now if i change a nozzle and the gap is wrong i can change it on the fly without a restart until i get a chance to run the app and reset the gap. i used to just give the knob 1 click but many times 1 click on that can be too big a jump.

OMG you just saved me from so much frustration I've had over the last few days... I have this one print I run that needs to be a little more squished into the bed for the first layer (which I use to do by just adjusting the z bolt a tad but is no longer an option) I tried just manually editing the z-offset in the g-code to do this but for some reason no matter what I change the offset number too it doesn't do anything. I can change that settings in S3D and it works but the newest version of S3D slices the model totally different than the older versions so one area on top of my supports prints at a different angle now that is just not working for me. With your trick with the jog buttons I should still be able to run my old file. (least I hope)

This community is another reason I'm so happy I went with Makergear.... you guys rock.

-Steve

[PcS]

You could also increase the first layer height to make it thicker. Where were you changing the z height in s3d. It has worked for me in the past when needed.

[PcS]

Finally tried to run the makergear software with the fasbot with no luck. It seems to connect by I.P. over usb. I also could not make the bottom switch work so I used it in the standard top position and used octoprint to jog and level. I am very happy with the new setup. It came at just the right time too as my probe died and had to drop auto tramming !!! It makes the leveling process much easier. I can say with all honesty this is the first time in two years my bed has been leveled correctly. It is scary close to perfect. Thanks for the continued hard work on a already great machine !!! One question I had was I see some people posted just turning the leveling screws. I loosened the set screws first then adjusted and relocked the set screws. Do the set screws have rubber in the hole hard plastic or something else to protect the threads ? Or did I assume correctly and loosen them ? If they do lock directly to the adjustment screws I would recommend adding the buffer or changing the directions so they get loosened first !

[Josh]

jimc - glad that worked X)

One note on using the Z jog controls to change your first layer - you're going to lose that change during the second layer. When you physically offset the Z position, by turning the Z knob by hand, the machine and firmware don't know about it - the firmware keeps running gcode as though you're still physically at Zn. However, when you use the manual controls to move Z during the first layer, the firmware _is_ aware of the change - the next time there's a Z move command (so the move to the next layer, or the next retract event if you have Z lift enabled), that offset will disappear as the printer moves to the new Z position. Worst case, this can lead to separation between first and second layers.

insta - for clarification, do you mean that your firmware was set to use a different baud rate (250000 is most common after our standard 115200)? If so, that's a good thing to know about - as I'm running into with all of your guys' testing, the app right now assumes a fairly stock machine, so there are certainly some things that need to be made more robust...

PcS - for your special firmware/electronics, can you connect to that through S3D/Pronterface with the normal configuration? If so, could you then try connecting to it through Putty (serial mode), sending some commands ("M105", "M119", "M206", "M114", "G28 X"), and sending me a copy of the log? If that firmware was made to be backwards compatible with the existing tools, the app should connect to it...

[PcS]

s3d will not connect.

[Josh]

sthone - the command you're looking for there is G92 . At the beginning of your gcode file, after all homing is done, but before the first move to a Z position for the first layer, you can add "G92 Zn" to tell the firmware it's at a new Z position. In your case, say your layer height is 0.2mm, and your first layer height is 0.2mm; when your Z stage homes, it ends up just a bit tall at 0.22mm. You can then send "G92 Z0.22" to tell the firmware it's actually at Z0.22, so when it moves to the first layer Z height, it will move the bed up that last 0.02mm for a proper first layer; you could also lie and tell it that it's now at "G92 Z0.27", which will then have it move the bed up 0.07mm for the first layer, squishing it down more.

In general, while it's always better to make the system respond properly (homing actually goes to the correct starting positions, etc.), knowing how and when to creatively lie to the printer can certainly speed things up X)

[Josh]

PcS - ah, that would explain it: the app uses the same general protocol/connection method as S3D and Pronterface. How do you normally control that printer?

[PcS]

All from octoprint . It is built in on board !

[insta]

Josh/Rick:

what other kind of feedback are you guys looking for? I've been happy with the new setup. It was much easier to level and it looks to keep level a lot better.

Josh:

Yeah I totally forgot I changed the firmware baudrate. I touch so many firmwares I do it as a matter of habit and it doesn't even register as a change anymore.